Americans of TFF

[Draken Benvolaid]

I'm in the Northeast. Pennsylvania, just south of you Evangel.

Two of the major drug cities are in my area, Harrisburg and York. That's why I'm always getting in fights, lol (Work doesn't take me into the cities any more, though)



Got back from the Park City Mall today, one of the largest in the area. 8 hallways of shops and a food court with it's own floor.

Ever eat an AnneAnn's Pretzel?

[Meier Link]

back on gas prices, we have seen a 60 cent jump in 5 days. Has anyone else seen these kinds of hikes lately? This sucks. i've heard that by the end of summer gas is suppose to be well over 4 bucks p/gallon! rediculous. and even more of a down fall is i am tired of living close to the city and me and the wife are looking to get a house in a more suburban area outside the bustle of the city which means i am going to have to add 30 more minutes to my drive to work

[Polk]

Gas jumped around 20 cents around here I believe. I'm REALLY hoping that I can get an apartment around campus so I don't have to drive around so much. Most of my gas usage comes from driving to school, so if I can just walk, life is a lot easier.

[Walter Sobchak]

Welcome Evangel!

I am currently not in America. I am in Japan. I am here for just under four weeks. Here is to hoping that I adjust to the time difference. I am dying.

It is so nice to be able to walk or get transportation everywhere. Gas is meaningless!

[Rocky]

(btw I joined b/c I'm american lol)

I just find it interesting that our gas prices are at an all-time high just about every other day and yet the oil companies are making record-breaking profits. o.O These companies really don't care that they will eventually rip the country apart if they keep it up. I hope that the newly-elected president will take some executive action and stop the nonsense. On a side note, (yeah I was talking about this with other people during lunch lol) even if we did something like put the companies under "martial law", they probably have enough money to hire their own private armies to rival U.S., which is the hidden storyline in Metal Gear Solid 4.... Anyways, most people think that the gas prices are hurting the major cities, but where they damage the most is in the small suburban-rural areas (like in Iowa lawl!).

Question: How can you land locked people tolerate it? I go to the beach about five times a week. I couldn't live without it.

I live in the northwestern part of Iowa, GG me...

[Sinister]

Welcome Evangel!

I am currently not in America. I am in Japan. I am here for just under four weeks. Here is to hoping that I adjust to the time difference. I am dying.

It is so nice to be able to walk or get transportation everywhere. Gas is meaningless!

Well, since it's only four weeks, we won't make you leave your own club. Hyuhyuhyu

But...hmm. I had this discussion with a friend of mine only yesterday. Out here in the sub-rural hells of KY, gas is crippling. It's actually cheaper than it is in cities, but most have great distances to traverse before they get where they're going. Gas is no object to someone in New York city. No one who lives in New York owns a car, only commuters. Thus, not gas prices, but cab fare or the equivalent.

Either way, it's a problem that I'm willing to be rid of...

-Sin

[FF Ace Cid]

Gas is killing me. I noticed the giant price change. Every time I pass an old run down gas station, I notice that. $1.30, that was a wonderful time.

[Ryayukou]

Oh gas... the most expensive here is $3.59, it sucks. My roommate got rid of her car and is always talking about the high gas prices. I started making her give me gas money because she is ALWAYS asking for rides and many times they are out of my way. But that's another story. ^^

On a different question... got any summer vacation plans? Going anywhere in America, or abroad?

I live in the northwestern part of Iowa, GG me...

Where exactly? My mom was born and raised in Le Mars.

[Draken Benvolaid]

Jumped from $3.49 to $3.65 and $3.69 in two days.

Heard Obama laughed at Hillary and McCain's plan for the summer, saying it wouldn't solve the problem, just mask it.


Anyway, summer for me.. Work, work and more work. College students need funds for the next semester.

I'll probably enter a few tournaments if I can.

[Meier Link]

Anyway, summer for me.. Work, work and more work.

same here haha, seeing that i have already taken vacation this year i dont plan on taking anymore. i will prolly just hang out at the in-laws pool and drink beer on my days off haha any which way it goes i am sure it will be fun.

[Bleachfangirl]

I haven't been out much lately, but I know gas went up a bit. I think it was 20 cents or so. Sad thing is, I'm afraid it won't ever go back down to what it was-or even close. Time to get into giant bubbles to roll around in! It's more fun than walking, and going downhill won't even be jarring anymore! Just tuck your legs in and have fun.

If only that were possible. Americans would become less obese too.

For summer, I'm hoping I get accepted into my high school's summer school program. Other than that, there's just the usual stuff; relaxing and hanging out with friends are pretty high on the list too.

[Walter Sobchak]

You people need to keep this up while I am away!

Here is something American: summer movies. Any you are excited for? What have you seen so far?

I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Harold and Kumar before I left. Both times, I was dragged. The first was surprisingly good, and the second was offensive. Alas, I learned about humanity in both.

I hear Iron Man was ginormously popular.

[Polk]

As for plans this summer: I'm working, for the most part. There's a chance that I might go on a mini-roadtrip to Ohio to go see Clutch and Dub Trio, since the closest that both of them are coming to here is at Summer Camp and I'm not paying $150 to get into a hippy festival. Even if it is Clutch. And Dub Trio. Next summer, however, my sister and I are HOPEFULLY going to go to Finland. I say hopefully because I'm not sure if I'll have the money.

As for summer movies: None of them really stand out to me. People are always saying that Forgetting Sarah Marshall is really good. I'll probably end up seeing that and Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Iron Man looks okay.

Besides, summertime is baseball time!

[Anomaly]

A club simply for the sake of talking about what country your in. Claiming to be an 'American' always seemed a little silly to me. It doesn't really say anything about you...I mean you could be anywhere in the northern hemisphere, from desert to swamp, tropical beaches to permafrost lands blanketed in snow. There's too much variety contained in 'America' for claiming to be American to really mean anything to anyone aside from those outside of America that don't know much about anything to do with them aside from 'we like those guys' or 'we hate those guys'.

Which is just a little unfair, but pointless to argue about. I'm sure not everyone in china is a jerk. Hell, my friend who was born in Hong Kong is a good example, though he's since moved to Canada.

Meh. Needless to say, I am American. I have traveled all over this country and to Canada and England, but I have to say that I like Texas the best...even when it is blazing hot and overcrowded. for those curious I live in the same city as Colt, though I hope to be out of here before they finish building the new stadium.

Here's a few comments about 'American' things:

*I'd be willing to participate in any and all demonstrations against the price of gas and food.
*I don't think any socialist answer to any problem is a good answer, just an easy one.
*There is no one worth voting for, but I'd be willing to vote for anyone that wanted to dissolve the taxes put on money that I've earned that should have ended with the war that was its excuse for being introduced back in 1865.
*If you approve of war or not, the military deserves your support, if not your approval.
*fast food sucks but is better here than in any other country
*collage costs way too much for what it is.
*I find it funny that Iran has gotten pissed that Hillary said if they ever attacks Israel they could be obliterated by the United States
*I was shocked that France protested harder over the Olympics than California did, but understand that the local government didn't give them much of a chance.
*There are at least seven distinct countries within the united states if anyones willing to acknowledge it or not, and all of them blame the others for their problems yet need them to form anything like a solution.
*TV has gotten to the point where some of the commercials are more entertaining than the programs. which should make me happier that I'm being advertised to on average several times every seven minutes, but it doesn't.

And finally...do you think there's such a thing as an 'American' accent? Disregarding regional dialects (southerner, new englander, mid-westerner etc.) is there a method of speech that is quintessentially American? My wife swears up and down that I have an 'American' accent that only now and then slips into a southern drawl, but I think I'm speaking regular English. Being British, my wife disagrees.

What do you think?

[Draken Benvolaid]

I agree with everything else you said, whole heartedly,... but...

Uh.. an American Accent? I not quite sure, everyone has their own way of speaking to others. Human nature. Like me for example, I pick up on my accent by kinda compiling the accents of everyone I meet and talk to. If I have to call anything an American Accent, then a mix of different accents would be it.



Not to change the subject, but I find this quite funny.

With the exception of Stereotypes and those that the US had direct conflicts with, such as the Taliban, the only ones that truly hate the US are the hateful citizens within the US. We're ridiculed and not well liked, but not directly hated by other countries.

There's thousands of groups dedicated to hate the US within the US...
It makes no sense. If they hate it so much, then leave, right?
I've heard of people basing their ideals around logic and yet they hate the country they live in... Where's the logic in that?

[OceanEyes28]

At the moment, I don't have time to answer EVERY topic that has been brought up here.

But I did want to say that there is a non-regional American dialect that people in entertainment (who have been trained) have to learn by using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

I don't know if that was the answer you were looking for, but there you have it.

[LocoColt04]

Here is something American: summer movies. Any you are excited for? What have you seen so far?

I still haven't had a chance to see Iron Man, but I haven't had a day off since last Wednesday. I've got tomorrow and Wednesday off, so I'll surely be seeing it one of those days. I've been told to stay after the credits, and nothing more than that. Furthermore, The Dark Knight. Period. There are some other good things coming out, but that's the big one for me.

Movies I've seen? A few, recently, which is weird because I haven't seen this many movies since I worked at a theater. Went along with the same girl and some various other people to each of the following:

• The Forbidden Kingdom - pretty solid, good action film.
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall - surprisingly good, I was quite pleased.
• Horton Hears a Who! - oh man, I loved this movie, but I'm a sucker for Seuss.
• 21 - it wasn't anything special, but I thought it was worth watching once.
• My Blueberry Nights - going into it, I was expecting more. It was a nice little "real life" type of story, and I liked the artistic direction, but it lacked the charm it should have had. It felt kind of empty at the end.

As for plans this summer:

Work.

for those curious I live in the same city as Colt, though I hope to be out of here before they finish building the new stadium.

I vaguely remember you mentioning that before. I wouldn't be shocked if I've bumped into you before without realizing it. Even with so many people, I always manage to run into everyone. Anyway, I guess you've got another year and a half before you need to jet out of here, hmm?

As far as the "American accent" is concerned... yeah, I think there is. Even with regional dialects, I suppose there's a way we go about speaking that says, "Hey, I'm from the States, or maybe Canada, eh?" The Southern accent is a dead giveaway that you're an American. Same with a New York accent. Or Boston. Or Midwest. They're all so distinguishable that it's easy to know where you come from.

If you speak "regular" English without any noticeable regional accent, people will still know you're from here because you don't sound British or Australian.

[Meier Link]

i am kind of baffeled by the "american accent", seeing that i havent heard anyone in the states using proper english i could agree with this but how can we limit it down just to an american accent when there are so many different variations a dialects throughout the country. listen to someone from staton island and then listen to someone from texas. i would say by listening to someone you could easily put an american tag on them but as for a common nation wide accent i just dont see it.

[Dimi]

An American accent...all I can think is a Chicago accent. People from the South and New Yorkers like Loco had mentioned and I think that's it. Does California count? We're known of talking like "Woah dude. Like totally bro."

Accents are cool though and sexy. Like with Salma Hayek. Sometimes, I can't understand a damn word that woman says but god..

But on topic....

Here is something American: summer movies. Any you are excited for? What have you seen so far?

A lot of good movies seem to be coming out. I've been wanting to see Ironman for a long time. And am waiting for the new Batman movie to come out. The new Indiana Jones movie seems a bit interesting....(Where's the horror movies at?)

About plans in the summer, I have no idea what I'm doing yet. All I know is there will be no vacation time for me. After I graduate, I'm thinking about working full-time in the summer and starting school again in the fall.

[Anomaly]

I wonder if its the same for people from Canada. We all are aware of a certain Canadian accent that we stereotype a lot, but perhaps to them someone from Ottawa sounds nothing like someone from Toronto and it would be impossible for them to think of anyone saying they have 'insert generic accent' just like the rest of their country. Then again, maybe thats a poor choice of examples. I'd say the same thing about England, but even with Lancashirian, Cockney, and the various Scally slang, they still all have a few words in common that are pronounced the same and given the same inflexions.

As for summer movies I already saw Iron Man. I'm interested in the Indiana Jones movie, maybe the Narnia movie, but the only other movie I'm actually excited about coming out this summer is probably the Dark Knight. This actually isn't much of a summer for movies in my opinion. Plenty of comedy and action movies but nothing really stands out.

[OceanEyes28]

At the moment, I don't have time to answer EVERY topic that has been brought up here.

But I did want to say that there is a non-regional American dialect that people in entertainment (who have been trained) have to learn by using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

I don't know if that was the answer you were looking for, but there you have it.

Really? No one read this? Not interested?

If you feel like I'm ruining your right to speculate, by all means, ignore this. But if you want to know something that all performing arts majors know, go ahead and pay attention. Non-regional American Dialect using the International Phonetic Alphabet to get the sounds correct. Those before you had the same question you all are asking and figured it out.



My summer? I know I'll be in Florida with my family the... second week in June, I think. And then I hope to spend time with friends on June 26 to remember Amy. The rest, I'm unsure about. Sometimes I go out west with the moms, but they haven't mentioned anything about it yet. I may or may not go visit Daniel in Daytona. It might be fun.

I've already seen Iron Man and I enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the Hulk movie. I never saw the last one for obvious it-was-a-bad-movie reasons, but this one looks more promising. And I like Edward Norton. Dark Night looks exciting and I can't wait to see more of Heath Ledger's acting. The things he did with his voice are absolutely amazing. I never saw the first Narnia, so I should see that... and then enjoy Caspian.

I know there's more, but I'm blanking out on them.

Summer should be fun.

[Rocky]

Oh gas... the most expensive here is $3.59, it sucks. My roommate got rid of her car and is always talking about the high gas prices. I started making her give me gas money because she is ALWAYS asking for rides and many times they are out of my way. But that's another story. ^^

On a different question... got any summer vacation plans? Going anywhere in America, or abroad?



Where exactly? My mom was born and raised in Le Mars.

Hey that is pretty neat! I live in Sioux City Iowa, but I go to college up in Orange City, or at least I did but I don't plan to go back due to me changing majors and having to pay 28K/yr for college up there.... -_- That is really cool though, that only puts me about 20-25 minutes from Le Mars! Yay Ice Cream capital of the world!! lol

As for movies, hmm. I saw Iron Man and I thought that it was good. I also saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall, pretty good imo but it was awkward a little bit because I was taking out a lady at the time to see the movie. Oh well I guess. Prom Night was pretty bad but I went with my friends so it was worth it. 21 was suprisingly good, lots of twists in the movie, but it was pretty easy to follow. I'm looking forward to the next Narnia one and SPPPPPPEEEEED RAAAACEEERRRR!!!! Most epic movie of all time, it better win all the grammys and golden globe awards for every year until the end of time. I'm calling it out.

[Anomaly]

Originally Posted by OceanEyes28
At the moment, I don't have time to answer EVERY topic that has been brought up here.

But I did want to say that there is a non-regional American dialect that people in entertainment (who have been trained) have to learn by using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

I don't know if that was the answer you were looking for, but there you have it.Really? No one read this? Not interested?

If you feel like I'm ruining your right to speculate, by all means, ignore this. But if you want to know something that all performing arts majors know, go ahead and pay attention. Non-regional American Dialect using the International Phonetic Alphabet to get the sounds correct. Those before you had the same question you all are asking and figured it out.

It's not that I was ignoring it, its just that its more fun to take everyones opinion on the matter and, as you say, speculate. I did not, nor did I ever, intend to make the performing arts majors feel put out.

There was one movie that I forgot. A limited release of the Death Note live action movie is coming on the 20th and the 21st. Unfortunately for me, I work nights and the only showings are at 7 o'clock on only these two week days where I am. Sucks very much so. I was really looking forward to laughing at the bad lip syncing (they are having the anime cast do the dubbing) and CGI shinigami. Oh well, I'll just have to wait for the DVD.

[Walter Sobchak]

Welcome Rocky (Who I missed, sorry), and Anomaly!

There are so many things going on. I cannot keep up.

There is no American accent, obviously. There is a New England accent, a New York accent, a Southern accent, a Minnesota accent, and a Valley girl accent. Others, I do not know of.

I like to think I have no accent, as do most in my state (south of the panhandle, that is). But surely, I must, because I don't speak perfect English. Hmm.

My summer? I know I'll be in Florida with my family the... second week in June, I think.

O RLY?

I also saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall, pretty good imo but it was awkward a little bit because I was taking out a lady at the time to see the movie.

Why was it awkward? I went with a woman to see it, and I thought it was about right. The ending had romance story all over it.

[Rocky]

Why was it awkward? I went with a woman to see it, and I thought it was about right. The ending had romance story all over it.

I was going to post something more, but my brother got on my computer and closed my window without even saying anything...

I thought it was awkward because it was me and this girl's first date, and I learned that she is a strong Christian, and she is... innocent and naive to world I guess? Oh well, she and I both thought the movie was pretty good, but it had it's moments...

Mother's day is tomorrow!!! What are your plans for you and you mommies? I bought my mom a gift certificate for the nail salon, a card, and I'm taking her out to a concert later.

[Meier Link]

Really? No one read this? Not interested?

If you feel like I'm ruining your right to speculate, by all means, ignore this. But if you want to know something that all performing arts majors know, go ahead and pay attention. Non-regional American Dialect using the International Phonetic Alphabet to get the sounds correct. Those before you had the same question you all are asking and figured it out.

i wasnt ignoring you, and you make a very good and valid point. i was just randomly talking about the average joe shmo out side of the P.A. trying to figure out the actual link between all of the different dialects. basicly my point was that there isnt one besides english.

[Walter Sobchak]

Mother's day is tomorrow!!! What are your plans for you and you mommies? I bought my mom a gift certificate for the nail salon, a card, and I'm taking her out to a concert later.

I guess no one has mothers.

My gift to my mother was not being around. In seriousness, me and my brother bought her a massage/facial package thing that we get here every year. She seems to enjoy it.

Mom at a concert? How did that go?

[Rocky]

Mom at a concert? How did that go?

It went really well, it was a free concert that was there to serenade moms for mother's day. A friend of mine that I used to sing in our school choir with was going to be the main event, and rightfully so. This girl that I am talking about made it very far on the show "American Idol", all the way up to where they cut 100 something people down to like 20-something. She is only 17 and still in high school as well, so plenty of time for her to continue developing her gift. But yeah, my mom LOVES music, so I really thought she would enjoy it, and she did.

Well, what other current events are going on right now? Any people have big plans for this summer?

[Meier Link]

has anyone seen the preview for stranger? that movie looks good! but with all the other craptacular horror films that have came out recently i am kind of gun shy on going to the theater to see it.
still plan on seeing iron man (i know i am a little behind the times on films) and the new will smith movie looks funny as heck

[Rocky]

has anyone seen the preview for stranger? that movie looks good! but with all the other craptacular horror films that have came out recently i am kind of gun shy on going to the theater to see it.
still plan on seeing iron man (i know i am a little behind the times on films) and the new will smith movie looks funny as heck

You have not seen Iron Man yet?! wtfomgwthlolsauce is wrong with you?! just playing, but seriously, go see it soon. It is epic. I promise. But tell me more about this movie called stranger and this new Will Smith movie, because I have not heard about either of them..